BY JENNIFER M. CONTINOFrazer Irving didn't know a lot about the character of
Azrael when Editor
Michael Marts asked him if he'd like to create the art for the three-part
Azrael: Death's Dark Knight. But, after seeing a few pages of his sequential pages, I don't think the lack of knowledge hurt this project in any way. Irving wasn't afraid to take on the new Azrael, Michael Lane. But, after drawing him for three issues, Irving doesn't think Lane should be the new Batman after the smoke clears from
Battle For The Cowl. "Cos he's likely to go CRAZY," Irving said. "That pesky suit of sorrows is bad news I tellyer. Plus I like him as he is, and I wouldn't want him to ditch being Azrael to become Batman."
THE PULSE: When you heard about the new Azrael, what interested you the most in drawing his three-part limited series that kind of reintroduces the concept to the DCU?
FRAZER IRVING: I first heard about it when
Michael Marts emailed me and asked me if I wanted to draw it. [grins] The overall dark gothic tones in the pitch were what excited me the most, plus the reduced amount of spandex. Flaming swords are good too.
THE PULSE: Were you a fan of the original Azrael and his role in the DC Universe before and after Batman found himself crippled by Bane?
IRVING: All I knew of Azrael was the name. I'd never seen the character, read about him or even cared. Back in the '90s I was totally out of comics due to poverty, not to mention that the whole multiple gold embossed radioactive furry variant covers of huge crossover events, with hot new artists that I hated, had put me off a bit as well, so I missed everything. I missed
Sandman, I missed Superman dying, I missed the new Green Lantern, I missed Batman getting his back busted, and thus I missed Azrael.
THE PULSE: Got it. So, since you didn't have a lot of background knowledge of the original, how did you approach the look of this new Azrael?
IRVING: I had a bunch of recent
Batman comics, which were given to me to inform me a bit of the background, and my main inspiration was one of
Simone Bianchi's covers, which showed Batman wearing the Suit of Sorrows. I liked the low-fi quality of it, and when I read the script, it did strike me that this rag-tag operation would hardly be dishing out a chain mail suit, along with some tight spandex pants as well, so I thought it'd be a good opportunity to depict this character in a more plausible outfit. The fact that Lane is a bit of a lost soul probably also fed into my choices, so the costume, perhaps subtly, reinforces the disjointed and hastily put-together nature of his new identity.
THE PULSE: Aside from the costume and other cosmetic changes, in your art how did you want to capture the difference between this man and Jean Paul Valley?
IRVING: Like I said, this Jean Paul dude I had never read, and from what I could tell in the script JPV wasn't relevant apparently so there was no need for me to research the character. As far as I was concerned, this three part story was about Michael Lane and nothing else. Even the costume and sword is kinda scenery to me. I'd read the story where he was the Batman imposter, and knew about the history behind how he got to this place in life, so that was what fuelled the visuals more than anything.
There's a touch of madness in there, his world has been skewed by pain and manipulation (not to mention living in a world full of super-dupers, which has always made me think of a slightly insane world anyway) and as with every job I do, those background flavours are what colour and shape the drawings.
THE PULSE: Who or what influenced your interpretation of this Azrael? Did anything outside the traditional realm of comics color how you viewed him?
IRVING: To be honest, I try to avoid looking at comics when I start a job, unless it's for reference. Everything in the series came either from observation, or music, or maybe a movie/TV show moment, or perhaps echoes of older comics that had been important to me. But the main source of inspiration is always the script. I did sneak in some [
Jack] Kirby Krackles in the sword fire, and that was a spill over from an advertising job I'd just completed, and there was the initial Bianchi influence, but once I'd made it past that point I have no idea what else fed into the mix because these things take on a life of their own and just sweep me along. It never looks how I intend it to, and the art always evolves as I draw the story.
THE PULSE: How much of his costume design and other elements were left to your interpretation?
IRVING: Aside from the chain mail and the mask (which I initially thought I could change too, but was then told I couldn't) the rest was pretty much up to me. This is a good thing I think, cos if I had had to draw the original outfit it would have looked silly. Some guys are suited to that sort of thing, but not me. :P
THE PULSE: What inspired you part of the costume design the most? Were you inspired by the knights of legend and that type of lore?
IRVING: I was inspired by what I was seeing around me ... I knew I had to get the chain mail and the cape in there, but I've always been a big fan of practical costumes. What I was seeing around me was a lot of very urban clothing, that just looked like the kind of durable, yet flexible items, that a reluctant superhero would wear, purely out of practicality. The gauntlets, shirt and mask were already in place, and I have never liked those belts with the pockets (ever tried running around with one on?) so I used a scarf of my own as inspiration for his "belt". I wanted it to look grounded, and to also reflect the state of mind Lane was in.
THE PULSE: A lot of eyes are on the Batverse now with the Battle For The Cowl, what kind of pressure did that add to your creative process? Were there more people involved in the approval process of the art, because this was a part of a bigger picture?
IRVING: I was pretty much left alone to do my thing, which I always consider to be a Good Thing, and even though I was aware of the BFTC storyline it didn't interfere one bit. When I draw a story, all I'm concerned about it that story, as I feel that gives it more individuality, which is what comics need these days. IMHO.
THE PULSE: What was it like for you to collaborate with someone like Fabian Nicieza on this project? How much communication did you have with him about the art direction and other points of interest in detailing this story as best as possible?
IRVING: Fab wrote a very informal script, which is always nice to see. [grins] He offered up loads of reference to explain his points, and was aware of my naivety to the subject matter as well. He was also flexible and accommodating to any changes that I made, either out of artistic decisions or time constraints, and that's a blessing let me tell you. He even drew sketches of one of the bad guys that pops up, and despite his protestations about limited artistic ability, it was a fine drawing!
THE PULSE: A few other members of the Batman family appear in these three issues, how did you get to know those established characters so you felt comfortable bringing them to life in these pages?
IRVING: I have problems dealing with established characters like that. Basically they are always interpreted differently by artists, so one can't rely on any single version to give the full picture. In this case I had to go with minimal reference ... I'd find a comic which showed me basically what they looked like, and then I'd not look at any more and rely on the script to tell me how they act and move. I know some folks out there disliked my versions of Oracle and Nightwing, but I felt they fit in with the world I had created for Azrael. The Nightwing that I drew is the Nightwing I read in the script. If he stooped more than in another comic, well that's how he came across in the text. I didn't have much time to get into the skin of the others ... Oracle appears for two panels, so I never got to know her, and the cops were almost background, so I also didn't get to know them. My principals were the dudes in the church and Azrael, so they got the focus.
THE PULSE: About how many panels/pages does it take for you to not need to constantly reference materials to get a character down just right? Is it something you're quick to adapt to in your artwork?
IRVING: It evolves on the page. No amount of sketching makes up for drawing characters in scene. The amount depends on the character and how well I relate to them, but I felt that by issue two I had Azrael down, so I guess one could use that as a yardstick. It took a whole issue to get Klarion under my skin also, and I think that applies for most of the fun characters too.
THE PULSE: You showed on your website a lot of the process involved for creating a page. You put a ton of work into each panel on every page. What drives you to put so much of yourself in the artwork and pay attention to so many different details?
IRVING: There's a lot that doesn't make it in! Basically, the page takes over when I draw it. I may have visions of detail in my head, but as I draw the characters the panels seem to form themselves into shape, often creating areas of shadow or otherwise to create the mood. I've certainly done jobs in the past where I felt unsatisfied with the finished result, and since working on the much-delayed GUTSVILLE I've found that it's better to make the art good rather than just cut corners and make everything flat. Having said that, the time constraints on some projects means there are some corners that get snipped, and I do my best to ensure that that doesn't hurt the storytelling too much. Telling the story is the most important part after all, not the illustrative showboating.
THE PULSE: Which part of the creative process is easier: doing the layouts or doing the final tweaks on a given page/panel?
IRVING: Doing the drawing is easiest by a long shot. With layouts, it's the empty page/document that is the most terrifying aspect, and then the scribbles I put down to catch the action always look rubbish to me so it's a struggle to maintain faith in the final product. I'm always happiest when I'm bringing the imagery to life with the tones and textures, but that also depends on a solid foundation in the layouts which means I very often redo layouts many times even when they may be fine because I'm concerned that they won't hold up with the heavy shadows I put on them.
THE PULSE: How important is it for you to be involved in every aspect of the art process and responsible for as much of it as possible?
IRVING: It's critically important for me. I've only ever had three jobs coloured by other people, and whilst they may well have looked fine to the reader, I felt each time that the colourist missed the point in many panels and was also confused by my art. In this day and age, with
Photoshop in existence, there's no real reason why any artist shouldn't do
all the art themselves, outside of a lack of ability or interest. After all, I had four weeks per issue on
Azrael, same as with
Silent War for
Marvel beforehand, and each book shipped on time, with art that I was happy with. If it can be done, I think it should be done. Not everyone agrees, but hey, that's not my problem. [grins]
THE PULSE: How much of a cushion do you like when you're working on all the art for a series? When the first issue comes out, how far ahead do you like to be in the artwork?
IRVING: Ideally I'd like a good month beforehand, to get into the story, and figure out what sort of art the story demands, even though there's always the evolution on the page, once I get going. Even if the lead time overlaps with the end of another job, it's still good cos I can read scripts, look up reference, and do doodles. Sadly, most of the jobs I've had in the past couple of years have had little or no lead time, so it's been a bit of a scramble when I get to the pages. Still, it hasn't affected anything, so the only thing that suffers is my sleep routine. :P
THE PULSE: What have you enjoyed the most about working on Azrael: Death's Dark Knight?
IRVING: Difficult to say ... I really enjoyed drawing the main character, and I really got off on the mood of the story, and Fabian's script was fun to work with. I guess just drawing a monthly book was the best thing I took away from it all. After the last year, where my output was severely reduced and the creative groove totally derailed, it was awesome to get stuck into this series and really hone my chops again.
THE PULSE: After illustrating him for three issues and getting to know the character, do you think he'd make a good Batman if he won the Battle For The Cowl?
IRVING: Nope, cos he's likely to go CRAZY. That pesky suit of sorrows is bad news I tellyer. Plus I like him as he is, and I wouldn't want him to ditch being Azrael to become Batman.
THE PULSE: What's next for you after these Azrael? What other projects are you working on?
IRVING: After this I'm doing a
Marvel one shot set in the 2099 world, and a coupla issues for
Archaia Press with
Phil Hester, and of course resuming/concluding the much loved/missed GUTSVILLE. [grins]
Oh, and some sleep.
The final part of Azrael Death's Dark Knight will be in stores this May.
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